Saint Ursula Academy is excited to announce Sara Utecht as the new Assistant Principal for Student Affairs. She will assume the new role beginning July 1, when Dr. Mari Thomas moves in to the Principal role.
We had several strong candidates for this position. When looking at the job description and the specific skill sets and experience of each of the candidates, Sara rose to the top of the list.
Sara is a product of local, Catholic education, graduating Magna Cum Laude and as an Honors Program Graduate from the College of Mount St. Joseph, 2002. She has a degree in Communication Arts and Pastoral Ministering and a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
As Director of Counseling here at SUA, she is responsible for a caseload of 170 freshman and sophomore students using skills of leadership, advocacy & collaboration to promote student wellness & growth. This experience will assist Sara in developing student programming that supports leadership, service, inclusion and development of the whole person. She will work closely with the Campus Ministry Director, Director of Community Service Learning, and Diversity Director.
Sara will also be responsible for developing and coordinating co-curricular programming that is student centered and promotes community building. She has experience in program development including: Comprehensive Counseling Curriculum aligned with ASCA Standards, Parent Education Series, Sophomore Small Group Counseling, and the YouScience Summer Workshop, to name a few.
She will manage student retention by developing strategies to work with the faculty and staff to identify and assist at-risk students. Previously, she counseled Seton’s at-risk student population in developmental, prevention, & intervention activities & services aimed at positively impacting student achievement, behavior, emotional well-being, & attendance.
Other specific roles will include:
-Oversight of the curriculum and section enrollment for Advisory Program.
-Co-moderating Student Council
-Coordination of student leadership development, including opportunities on and off campus.
-Oversight implementation of grade level and school wide programming to encourage student involvement and engagement.
-Management of student clubs and organizations, with special attention to programming during 5th bells, lunch and after school.
-In collaboration with the Principal, development and monitoring of the school calendar.
Sara was awarded the “2017 Excellent School Counselor” award by CareerQuest/IKRON.